Let's pretend the sky's for us
by GamblingDementor
Summary: What if Ann wasn't at the bar when Andy went to grab April a drink? What if April didn't feel jealous of her and dance with Jean-Ralphio? What if Andy actually got to sing her birthday song? What if everything had gone according to plan?


"It's gonna be fun!" April says and she walks away and her smile is so cute that Andy is excited about the party all over again.

He can't wait to be there tonight. She's gone now and he wishes they would have chatted more or pranked someone together but he just feels great about this anyway. It kinda sucks that he didn't call the song "April", but he's actually not completely sure he can write a whole new song with new lyrics in such short notice. He's been working on _November_ so hard that Burly actually sent him outside last night because he wanted to sleep and Andy was making too much noise. The song is going to stay as it is for now. All he's hoping is that she likes it. And that she says yes to a date with him. He _really_ thinks she likes him, but you never know. He also thought Ann was totally into him and it turned out he was wrong. Still, the thought that he might just go on a date with April some day makes him so happy he doesn't even bother messing with Kyle when he comes for a shoeshine some time later.

* * *

It's not that she's _nervous_, not really. It's just that she can't wait till Andy gets here, but she's also scared and she thinks she might go throw up, but also she feels awesome, and she wants to leave this party forever, but also stay here all night, all at the same time. She's not nervous, she _should not_ be nervous. She's seen his smile, she tells herself, the way he was looking at her when she invited him this morning, and the way he protected her from Sewage Joe at the telethon, and she thinks she might not be mistaken this time. This time, she _might_ win against Ann. Or at least that's what she wants. Hopefully Andy will come to the party and they'll hang out and she'll be upfront about her feelings and it'll all go perfectly.

No, she's definitely _not_ nervous when she starts pacing and when she clutches her phone because it's so weird he's not here yet, it's like 9:30, it's totally time he was here, why isn't he here? Her thumbs skim across the screen despite her best common sense.

_Hey, are you coming to the party?_

She _almost_ sends the text, then erases it and tucks her phone away because she doesn't want to seem clingy. Then she takes it out again and almost types the exact same text again, but stops herself once more. She dances around it for longer than she should before feeling it buzz in her (slightly shaky) hands and reading his name on the screen.

_I'm just outside the bar, be there in a_ _minute_ _:)_

And it's just a little bit easier to breathe or think all of a sudden. She straightens her dress, fluffs her hair, tries to smile (it's never hard to smile around Andy, though) before walking towards the entrance to greet him, and she still thinks she looks like a clown by the time she sees his smile, but at least, _he came_.

* * *

"Wow, you're not messing around!" He tells her when she asks him to get her a whisky. He's 29 and even he isn't really a fan of strong liquor.

"No. I'm not."

She stares into his eyes and he feels just a little bit nervous at the intensity of her gaze, but he just puts on a smile and pretends he isn't totally scared about asking her out later tonight. He nods and orders a beer and a whisky at the bar.

That was totally a signal, right? He isn't the best at reading signals, but he really thinks he's right this time. The way she looked at him. What she said. She's not messing around, she says? Well, neither is he.

She's sitting on one of cool couches by the time he gets back, just a second later, and he really likes her hair and her dress, but above all her smile when she looks up at him.

"Here's your whisky! I got it as fast as I could."

"Nice, thanks."

He takes a sip of his beer and looks around at the cool party for a bit, but then notices she hasn't drunk any of her whisky so far.

"Is something wrong? You said you wanted…"

But then when he looks at her face he sees she's been staring right at him. She seems embarrassed that she got caught, so she looks away and drinks a sip of whisky, but it's too strong for her and she coughs and it's the cutest thing Andy has ever seen.

She's not sure when it happened, how it happened, who initiated it, but at some point when they were talking, Andy and April's hands touched, and they've been _holding hands_ for an hour now. It's nothing, but it's everything. She hasn't said anything about it, and neither has he, but there's no way it's accidental. Sometimes his thumb brushes against the palm of her hand and it's warm and comforting and she starts to actually believe that she's good enough for this.

* * *

"Hey, look at that!"

She looks over to where he's pointing and snorts. A ridiculously excited Jean-Ralphio is dancing extremely close to a heavily inebriated Leslie and they both look like idiots. Ann isn't very far from them and she looks even dumber and it looks like she's grinding against that new state auditor guy, but April doesn't want to point to her in case Andy didn't see her. She doesn't want him even just thinking about her right now. Not worth the risk.

"I'm gonna take a pic," she says and holds up her phone to snap at least ten pictures.

"What for?" he asks and his eyes are shiny with curious excitement and with that happiness that's always there.

"In case I ever need to blackmail her."

He laughs and she just longs to hug him and touch his beard and kiss him and put her hands in his hair and make out with him hardcore, but she just smiles and squeezes his hand a bit tighter.

* * *

April's nursed her whisky all night, but Andy's had a few beers already and his head is starting to buzz pleasantly. At some point, she dragged him on the dance floor and, even though he's not much of a dancer, he's so happy they're here right now. April looks lovely in her pink dress and her hair is beautiful and shiny and she smiled when he put his hands on her hips so he's kept them there and it feels good.

He hasn't felt that way since Ann, and even then, it's not the same. This urge of being with her, like they're meant for each other, like he's going to die if she says no when he asks her out, this feels like nothing he's ever known before. They dance and it's just how it's supposed to be. They dance and he wishes he'd taken up on her offer to go to a bar that lets her in that time she offered it weeks ago, because there's just something _right_ about having her against him. They dance and he's happy.

The music switches to something slow and nice and romantic and she stares right into his eyes and he can just hear her beg even if she hasn't said a word.

"Do you, erm, I mean, did you want to..." he tries to ask but he feels a bit nervous and it comes out sounding stupid.

He's not sure she's heard him because the music is pretty loud, but her eyes are bright and beautiful and she looks right at him as she wraps her arms around his neck. She's tiny and she can barely reach around, and _that_ becomes the cutest thing he's ever seen. Her waist is thin under his hands and he adds that to the long list of things that are just right tonight.

She puts her head against his shoulder and he hugs her a bit closer and he realizes that he now loves dancing.

* * *

"Wait, didn't you say you wrote a song for me?"

They're back on the couches after Andy chased away a group of people because, as he put it, he kind of owns the club now so he has a right to sit right there on his sofa with the coolest chick in the world, and April felt her cheeks turn all warm and red when he said that, but with the flutter of her heart, it was a good kind of blushing.

"Oh, yeah, right, the song..."

He scratches his neck and she fights the urge to pull on his collar and kiss him full on the mouth.

"Did you forget about it?" she asks and laughs.

His eyes widen and he starts waving his arms.

"What?! No! I didn't forget about it!"

"Then why are you acting like that?"

"I, erm, I forgot that I need my guitar to play it? So I didn't bring it?"

She's disappointed but she smiles and shakes her head, and hesitantly, tentatively, she rests her head against his shoulder. As if he's been waiting for her to do just that, he wraps his arm around her and hugs her close and their hands join and this feels so good. He smells like soap and a little bit of sweat and beer because of the bottle he half spilled on his shirt earlier and he is as comfortable and comforting as she thought.

"I'm real sorry," he mumbles against her hair and she wishes he'd never let her go.

"It's okay, Andy. It's totally okay. I'm just happy you're here."

He pulls her so close to him she's almost _on_ him, and this is exactly how she hoped the night would go.

* * *

"Okay, okay, you do one now!"

Andy laughs, takes a sip of beer and thinks about who he's going to do before putting the beer down and facing April again. She's on the edge of the sofa, staring right at him with her pretty eyes, and he wants to make her laugh.

"_Hey, uh, jeez, sorry guys, I dropped my lame sandwich again because I'm clumsy and stupid, and I'm going back to work and no one knows what I do exactly, cause I'm boring…_"

"That's Jerry!" she says and she does laugh.

Jerry was an easy one, but it's worth it if he gets to see her smile like that.

"Yeah," he chuckles and holds up his hand for a high-five.

What he likes about her smile is that it always reaches her eyes. They sparkle and he just knows that she's truly happy because how sick could you be to make your eyes look happy when you're not having fun? That's how he knows it's always sincere.

"Okay, my turn, guess who it is," she says and he nods. "_Hey, I love parks and I want everyone to be happy and to be motivated, I love waffles, and what, you don't want to work? How dare you! Look at this picture of Hillary Clinton and tell me she isn't disappointed in you if you don't want to work. I'm the real boss in this department. Look at this huge pile of waffles, I'm going to eat them all by myself because I love breakfast food!_"

"Ha ha, that's Leslie, isn't it?"

April nods and sits back on the couch right next to him. He chooses to take this as a signal to put his arm around her shoulders again and she cuddles closer and it feels amazing.

"Leslie's great, though," he says, and when April looks up he adds, "I mean, she got me a job at City Hall. Where would I be without her?"

April licks her lower lip, so quick that he barely has the time to see it, but it's both cute and hot and he is totally into that. He should probably take the leap and kiss her right now, but for some reason, he can't bring himself to do it just now, and then she speaks again and it's too late.

"She's not the worst."

And she nestles back against him just like that and he wonders if she understood that he meant he's happy about the job because it means he got to get to know her.

* * *

At some point Andy said something about it being hot inside and they decided to get out for a while. It's not quite cold but it's not really warm either so he's kept his arm around her. She can't believe she's spent the whole night with him so far and he doesn't look like he's bored or he wants to leave. They stare at the star-filled sky and she's sure it's dumb and ugly, but it just feels nice and she wishes she'd spend all of her nights watching the dumb sky with Andy.

"You know, I'm still kinda bummed out that I didn't bring my guitar," he sighs.

"Andy, it's a _club._ No one brings their guitar to a club."

"Yeah, but... I mean... That song meant a lot and I'm sad I can't sing it to you tonight."

He's looking at her like his puppy got kidnapped and she shrugs.

"You know, if it's that important, you can always just sing it now or something, I dunno..."

She won't admit it, not even to him, but she's been dying to hear that song ever since he's told her about it this morning. No one's ever written her a song. Derek would probably have found even just the idea lame and he wasn't a musician anyway.

"Okay. Yeah, I can do that! I'm gonna sing you my song!"

Andy takes a big breath, shakes his head like a big dog shaking water off his fur, clenches his fists, and his voice is wavering slightly when he starts singing.

"_November, your bangs are cute_."

He's closed his eyes and for that, she's grateful. She can feel that her face has gone ten thousand shades redder and she bets she looks completely ridiculous, twirling a strand of hair in her fingers, but she can't help it. Also she's totally staring, so it's good he can't see her.

"_November, your voice is a flute_."

_His_ voice is deep and beautiful and she can't believe he's actually singing a song he wrote about her. To write a song about someone, you need to think about them, and a lot, and does this mean he really likes her? Like-likes her?

"_November, let's pretend the sky's for us._"

As he says that, his eyes open and he stares at the night sky as if he was seeing it for the first time.

"_Let's spread our wings and fly on a date._"

Her brain is overflowing with millions of thoughts but she can't seem to form any word. When finally, he looks at her, his eyes are wide with hope and he sings what seems to be the last line.

"_I wanna go on a date with you, November._"

He is staring at her like he's expecting an answer, but she doesn't think she's actually able to speak right now. She does the next best thing and wraps her arms around his neck to pull him down for a kiss.

* * *

He's so happy Tom left the sofa to go talk up some women around the club because that's the perfect place to smooch and he really didn't want to have to take his car and go to his place to make out with April, because he doesn't live nearby and that would mean losing time during the ride and he doesn't want to lose any time. He's lost too much as is already.

"I'm so…" he tries to say but April kisses him again and again and he can't stop that.

"You're what?" she says but doesn't let him any time to answer right away.

Maybe it's because he's a bit tipsy, maybe it's because he's had a crush on April for a while, maybe it's because she's super cute and sitting on his lap and her dress is pretty and her lips are soft, but he's never felt this good. This is by far the best night of his life.

April is _the best_. He can't imagine being with anyone else at all. Her hair is tickling him a little and her hands are in his hair and on his beard, and he can just _feel_ that she's into him for real in every touch.

"I'm so happy to be here with you," he finally manages to say when she pauses for breath, her forehead right against his.

He feels more than he sees her smile. She hooks her arms around his neck and strokes the hair that's curling at his nape. It feels relaxing and he can't help but letting out some sort of weird moan, but she doesn't laugh or mention it, so he doesn't feel embarrassed about it.

"You make me happy too, Andy," she ends up replying.

"I like you so much, you have no idea how much I like you."

"No, dude, _you_ have no idea," she mumbles and goes back to kissing him before he can add anything and he's far too busy to think of anything beyond her mouth against his and the soft skin of her arms on his neck and her slender waist between his hands to want to say anything more.

* * *

"You're totally falling asleep, babe," Andy tells her before seemingly catching on what he's said. "I mean _April_! I don't want to, I mean, I shouldn't imply…"

April has never been called any pet name by any guy she dated, and she can't help but feel her heart beat fast thinking that he already sees her that way and they haven't even been on a real date yet.

"It's fine," she mumbles under her breath, but she's still on his lap, her head against his shoulder, comfortably nestled in his embrace, and she knows he's heard her. "I like that."

"Mmh," he hums happily in her hair. "I like it too."

"I'm tired," she says, because her eyes have been closed for almost an hour, she has no idea if there are still people around except them (there probably are, it's a club, not a tea party) or if people from work saw them (not that she cares), and she _should_ go home. But she can't, not right now, not before making sure…

"Andy…" she says and she likes that he reacts immediately although, this late at night, he's probably tired too.

"Yeah?"

"Is this… Is this for real?"

For a second, she thinks she's going to have to explain, but Andy strokes her cheek and hugs her close and she feels safe. She opens her eyes just to look at him like that, and the tenderness she sees in his is all she's ever needed.

"It's super real. I mean, if you want it to be?"

"Totally," she says as fast as she can so there is no way he could doubt her. "I totally wanna be with you."

"Good."

He gives her a kiss that feels even more real than when they were making out because it's gentle and sweet and it feels like a promise.

"Let's call you a cab and this will still be super legit real tomorrow, all right?"

She nods and closes her eyes again and he's completely right when he says she's falling asleep.

* * *

On any other day, Andy would be a bit hungover, but the truth is he feels amazing today. Everything is planned, everything is set, and nothing can ruin this day. In fact, nothing can ever ruin any day ever in the history of days, because he's with April now, the coolest person in the world, and they're having a date today.

She doesn't know it yet. Andy came to City Hall bright and early and, as he thought, April hasn't arrived yet. In fact, the only person already at work is Leslie, but she's busy in her office and hasn't even waved back when he greeted her earlier this morning. Not that he has time to chit-chat anyway: he doesn't know how much time he has before April arrives at work. If today is like any other day, plenty of time, but he thinks today is very very special, and he hopes she does too, so maybe she'll be here early. He doesn't want to take the risk.

"Andy?"

He didn't even hear Ann walk into the Parks department, but there she is, staring at him, her eyes bagging and her hair a bit messy.

"Oh, hey, Ann!"

"What are you doing at April's desk? What's all this?"

He pauses, but figures there's no harm in telling her.

"I'm inviting her on a date."

"Wow, you… you're being very thorough about it."

He looks down at the flower bunch, the card, the origami birds he made and the notes he's writing right now, and he laughs because she's right.

"I want her to be happy. I mean, she's said yes already, but you never know, right?"

Ann looks like she doesn't really know what to think, fidgeting and looking at Leslie through the glass panes.

"I didn't know you were into April."

"Are you kidding, she's like the coolest chick I've ever met!"

For a fleeting second, he thinks he sees a bit of disappointment pass through Ann's eyes, but it's gone as soon as it came and he probably imagined it. In any case, she breathes out awkwardly and doesn't even look at him when she speaks.

"Well, have fun, I'm gonna see Leslie!"

"Thanks!"

He goes back to writing the notes − they're not for the invitation, really, he just thought it'd be a good idea to leave nice notes for her on the stuff around her desk, and since she doesn't actually work, she won't find most of these before a long time if he hides them well, so it's a long term plan, and he's very hopeful that they will actually still be dating that long. Time will tell, but he trusts the future.

* * *

"So, you wanna hang out at my place tonight?" Andy asks and he sounds like he's asking her for a huge favor even though she can't think of a better plan at all for the night.

"Sure," she says and gives him a kiss as she stands up because she _can_.

"Awesome! I mean, my friend Burly lives there, but we can hang out, it's just not gonna be nice like this… It was nice, right?"

She has to admit that she was pleasantly surprised when she saw everything on her desk that morning. She got home at three in the morning, and Andy even later, so she can't imagine how little sleep he had to put everything up. Then when she found him at the shoeshine stand right around noon, he'd set a towel which kind of looked like a tablecloth on his counter with nice plates and even rose petals (she didn't care much for flowers but she liked the gesture), and hamburgers from the City Hall restaurant (cheap and good), and it was a lot more than just nice. It was great.

"Amazing," she says and he gives her a grin like he always does, the ones that make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. "I'll see you later, then?"

"Yeah," he says and he barely has the time to give her a peck on the lips when she hears a gasp behind her.

"April!" Leslie cries out, and April disentangles herself from Andy's arms reluctantly to get back to work because she really doesn't want Andy to witness what's to come. Leslie follows her and bombards her with questions that April doesn't reply to.

"Were you kissing Andy?! What am I saying, I saw you kissing him! How come you didn't tell me you were together? I never even knew that! How long has it been? Are you guys happy? Are you using protection? Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want, but if you want it, then go ahead, but make your first time special, it only happens once!"

April stopped listening anything after two sentences. All she can think about is Andy and his big hands on her waist, his mouth on hers, his big and warm body against hers, and she wants to see him again, but she has to at least pretend to work sometimes if she wants to keep her job. Leslie keeps talking all the way back to the Parks department.

"Ron? Ron!" Leslie shouts and Ron barely looks up from whatever he's pretending to do, "Come here right now!"

Ron probably has nothing better to do, because he actually comes when she calls him.

"What is it?"

"April and Andy are dating! I just saw them kissing!"

Ron says nothing, but after a couple seconds, he gives April one of his smiles that he hides so well behind his moustache and nods. Leslie is already trying to convince him that it's the greatest thing on earth, and April has to admit that she's not completely wrong, but Ron walks back to his office and shuts the door. Leslie seems to admit defeat and goes back to her own work, unable to get a word out of any of them.

The only thing to do for April is daydream about Andy. She grabs a pen and pretends to work, but notices a post-it wrapped around it. She unrolls it and it reads "_If you read this, come and make out with me, I miss you_". Seems like she has new plans for today in the end.


End file.
